Russia jails anti-Putin protesters for up to a month

Russian courts on Tuesday sentenced radical left protesters to up to 33 days in jail following an unauthorised protest against President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg.

Twenty-three people were detained in the protest on Monday on the city's central Nevsky Prospect, organised by writer Eduard Limonov who heads the Other Russia movement.

Six people were convicted of "holding an unauthorised protest" and "defying police orders" and jailed for terms ranging from eight to 33 days, spokeswoman for the Other Russia Lyubov Shatokhina told AFP.

Others were sentenced to fines, she said.

Other Russia succeeded the banned National-Bolshevik party that had also been created by Limonov.

He called on his supporters to a "revolutionary gathering" to commemorate the centenary of the 1917 October Revolution.

About fifty protesters walked through Saint Petersburg's streets yelling "Revolution!" and "We don't need oligarchs!" before police moved in to disperse the gathering.

Limonov himself was not at the rally, but his movement's co-chair Andrei Dmitriyev was sentenced to 20 days behind bars, Shatokhina said.

Other Russia is set to hold a rally in the capital Tuesday, after receiving permission from Moscow city hall.

In a separate incident, an Other Russia supporter was arrested on vandalism charges Tuesday for setting fire to a monument to late president Boris Yeltsin in Yekaterinburg, Russian agencies reported.

Hundreds of people were also detained Sunday in the course a different anti-Putin protest in Moscow, called by nationalist Vyacheslav Maltsev who had fled the country amid accusations of extremism.

Maltsev had called for a "revolution" on November 5, and police raided homes of his supporters across the country over the previous weekend. Officers said they found knives, flammable liquids and various banned items.